Beyond The Dark Life
by Question Mark Hatman
Summary: Kenny is smitten with someone from his team, but a symbolic barrier separates the two. What can he do against his own fears? (Shounen-ai)


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Beyond The Dark Life  
  
by Igatona  
  
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Sometimes, if you're near the Bladebreakers enough, and if there a long, drawn-out silence, you can hear a little sob. Nothing too outlandish, just an ounce of pure melancholy. A sob so innocent, crying out for someone. Not someone to love, not someone to have sex with, just someone to be there. However, this sob hides a long cry of anguish, as the person who cries always stands alone.  
  
While he hides his emotions, knowing full well that no one ever understands, others move around in the emotional spectrum. They live and love, they die and hate. Such is the lot of us humans. Such is the lot of our feelings. There are those who would love to see him crash and burn, while there are those who would love only to cuddle him. However, none of them exist in his universe. None of the people he knows would want to cuddle him, to make him feel safe when the world's so big around him, while he has to hide his face from the rest of the world.  
  
The fate of frail, self-depreciating little Kenny.  
  
But don't take my word for it. Read the following of his computerized journal.  
  
"Dear journal,  
  
Yes, I know that even you must be tired of hearing me cry my eyes out over my loneliness, but I am still, as I always will be, lonely. None of my friends think much of me, and when they do, it's because they need me to customize their beyblades. Even if they don't respect me, I still hang around them, as it's the only way I'll ever be close to another human being. I really am pathetic. I can't even make friends with my friends. When I talk with the others, they always dominate me. We can't even talk equal to equal, just because they're more outspoken than I am. A lot of people believe that the most introverted person in our group of five is Kai, but that's not the truth. When you know how to handle Kai, he's very extroverted. You can just ask Rei if you want to know. He knows more things about Kai than anyone in the team does, even me. Anyway, I'm the more introverted in the team, but unlike Kai, no one cares about me. Kai's got legions and legions of fans that only want to be close to him, either to bask in his glory or to take advantage of his somewhat good looks. I don't know, I've never been close to Kai so I can't tell you how good he looks. Every last one of them has fans, but ask around if any of them know about me, and they won't. Just because no one cares about the little guy in the corner. I know my role and I take it in stride, because that's the only thing I can really do about this right now. I know that the few people who read this know what I look like, and maybe they think I need to stop covering my face with my hair, but it's really a necessity.  
  
Why would it be a necessity? Well, I've never shown my face to any of my newer friends, so they don't know what I look like. It may not look like it, but without the hair, I look like a total girl. Not just "a little bit", but completely. I know that when I was young, the guys at my school would call me 'Kenny the girl' and refuse to play with me because I have cooties. What are the results of such a behavior? I'm gay... I don't mind, really, but it's completely my fault I've fallen in love with one of my teammates. I shouldn't have helped him out before, I shouldn't have given him my advice, then, I guess, my life would have been spared. He was the first one to acknowledge I ever existed. Then again, it hadn't been a long while since I had started to wear my hair over my face. It was the only thing I could do, really. I want to find him so much...but I can't. I just can't. It's something that's far away from me, even if I do open my eyes, and have him see through the hair. He's got someone else in his life. Someone a frail, shy person like me can never really rivalize with. I'm pathetic, aren't I?  
  
Well, see you sometime soon, my journal, you're the only one that can ever listen to me and not laugh..."  
  
Kenny submitted, and the file basked in black angst on a random hole in the web, a forgotten hole. There, people could read what the shy, frail one had written, and they could brush it off by clicking on the back button, or simply be concerned for that little boy in a man's world. However, as it turns out, not a lot of people can do anything for him, and those that can don't read his journal. They are rarely online, in fact.  
  
However, one person that did care about him had an insight on what was behind the hair, beyond the dark life. That person had acted as the confidante of our poor little friend for a long time, and that person knew who Kenny had fallen in love with. When you asked that person, that person told you that she knew who it was, but that there was no way that who Kenny loved would love him back. That person knew, though, that Kenny needed to talk to someone. Even though the one he would like to call his lover wasn't the most mature one around, nor someone who'd be likely to settle down and talk.  
  
That person was Dizzi.  
  
As Dizzi was inside his computer, it had access to many of it's functions, including the passwords for the diary. She didn't change a thing, but she often looked at it, and felt herself saddened, or at least, she worried about Kenny. She knew that Kenny's "secrets" needed to be revealed one day, but she would make sure it would be in the least humiliating way possible. She figured that the person that needed the most to know was Kenny's crush. She copied, pasted, and sent the link to this boy, knowing very well that he wouldn't care one bit. This had to end, one way, or another. Kenny couldn't stop crying at night, and she was getting annoyed with it. It had to end.  
  
* * *  
  
A spinning tornado of red, yellow, and white approached a familiar kendo dojo. This tornado wasn't an ordinary tornado, no, it was a human one. As a human is made of flesh, it stops before bumping into obstacles, at least, when it can. As such, our favorite cyclone decided to stop and open the door before crashing into it. It spun once again, bypassing an old man in traditional kendo garb, barely yelling something intelligible. It sounded like : "HiyagrampsI'monlyhereforaminutecheckingmye-mailbye!", only faster. This hurricane finally settled down, as it realized it kept messing up its password for its e-mail. Delete, delete, delete, keep 'cause it's funny, delete...wait, what's this?  
  
"Tyson, go there, it's important.  
  
-Dizzi"  
  
Now, Tyson, as brain dead as he usually was, knew that the bit-beast never e-mailed people. Especially since said bit-beast said that it was important, he decided to go where the link pointed. Lo and behold, the link pointed to Kenny's diary. Tyson read on, living the emotions of our ruffle haired little friend, and feeling sorry for him. Although something sparkled in the back of his mind, and it wasn't really something that had a lot of relevance to the story, but he wanted to know something that Kenny had addressed in his online diary.  
  
'Does he really look like a girl?'  
  
* * *  
  
A radiant sun shone outside as Tyson was relaxing in the shade, having Kai standing tall, shaking the heavens, and mostly berating him for his lack of practice. Tyson said one single word, the one thing that could make Kai want to hit Tyson.  
  
"Chill, Kai!"  
  
He didn't have time to say the following. Now, some people have guessed what Kai did to Tyson, some people guessed that Kai wasn't a very friendly fellow, nor a jolly good one. In fact, Kai was ruthless when it came to bodily hurt, at least, someone else. Therefore, he kicked Tyson in what is commonly referred to as "the nads." Up until tomorrow, Tyson was heard with a soprano's voice. He saw Kenny looking at everyone practicing, and decided to go to him, jumping around while holding his private area. Even Kenny, the angsty nerd, couldn't help but stifle a laugh as Tyson hopped around like a bunny in heat to sit next to him.  
  
"Tyson! Tyson! Are you okay?" asked Kenny.  
  
"Sure, sure, I'll be fine, but it hurts!"  
  
"Hehe, Kai sure socked you a good one."  
  
"Enough about him! I want to talk about something else for a change."  
  
"What?"  
  
"I don't know, but someone sent me an e-mail yesterday."  
  
"Oh, who was it?"  
  
"You won't believe it if I told you! It was Dizzi!"  
  
Kenny blushed and then blushed over the blush.  
  
"And do you know what she wrote? She sent me a link to some online journal about a guy named Kenny! Just like you!"  
  
Kenny kept blushing, and looked down, but he answered nonetheless.  
  
"That was me..."  
  
"Whaaaat!?"  
  
Tyson had not realized that it was obvious that the journal pointed at the Kenny we all knew.  
  
"Oh yeah, if that's you, then show me your face! It said you looked like a total girl, so show me!"  
  
Kenny aknowledged, blushing, he removed the glasses, and then combed the hair. Tyson could not believe what he saw. Kenny, the guy he had known longer than anyone else on the team, had this face hidden under the hair. As far as Kenny's face went, it was beautiful. The eyes were perfectly placed, the nose as fine as Cleopatra's, his upper cheeks and the ears so sculpted that you couldn't help but hug the poor little girl...at least, until you realized it was a boy and the insult had already carried.  
  
"Wow...so that WAS you."  
  
"Yeah, that's me..."  
  
"I never knew you were that lonely! I'm going to stay with you today, is that okay Kenny?"  
  
"Sure, it's fine with me. In fact, I wanted you to come over here."  
  
"Then why didn't you fetch me?"  
  
"I don't know...something came over me. You probably didn't want to be bothered anyway, Tyson."  
  
"Of course I wanted to be bothered by you! I always help my friends! Here!"  
  
Tyson then did something completely unexpected, at least by Kenny, as this is a shounen-ai story, we all knew that Tyson hugged the small and frail boy, right, RIGHT? He hugged him, and Kenny blushed even more, as the object of his crush was hugging him. Tyson then stopped, even though Kenny wanted to continue, but they had to stop otherwise the story wouldn't advance.  
  
"There, do you feel better?"  
  
"A little bit..."  
  
"So...do you mind telling me who's your crush? I know! It's gotta be Rei, right?"  
  
"Nope, it's not him...he's too vain, especially with that hair of his..."  
  
"Then it's Max! I'm sure of it!"  
  
"It's not him...and I thought he was with you!"  
  
"What!? Nooooo, why would he? I always end up annoying him. Then...it can't be! No, tell me that's not true!"  
  
"What isn't true?"  
  
"Tell me you aren't in love with Kai!?"  
  
"I'm not...it's you that I love, Tyson."  
  
Tyson didn't really expect this, even after he ran through everyone in the team. He mulled over his situation, an extremely girly boy was loving him, and Kenny had always been one of his closest friends. He was cute, charming, and intelligent. Two things that Tyson wasn't, and the third one was only in a certain way.  
  
"You know something Kenny?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"You don't have cooties."  
  
Tyson then kissed Kenny.  
  
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Finito. 


End file.
